From 'I Don't Have Time for AI' to “Hold My Beer” - Building AI Fundraising How-To's to Share with Everyone 

People & Teams
Written By Claire Bernson

Summary:

When a client specifically asked Natalie to use ChatGPT to complete a 30-day, $4M grant, she went from a reluctant skeptic to someone building templates and how-to guides for others. Her story captures what we believe at Helia: learning can and should be shared, we don't need to start from scratch, and we don't need to do it alone."

 

What’s in it for you:

  • You're curious about AI but not sure where to start (or if you even want to!)

  • You work in fundraising and feel overwhelmed by the “blank page syndrome”

  • You're worried AI will make your work sound generic or flatten your authentic voice

  • You want practical tips from someone who's actually using AI in their day-to-day

 

Helia’s Perspective

The reason I love stories is, well, they move beyond the how-to's and the step-by-step's and, well, the neatly organized rules. They are full of feelings and curiosity and learnings and shifts – all the things that help me know and learn and understand all the pieces.

As AI becomes a norm (and a tool that we are VERY much leveraging at Helia), I feel like I'm back to kind of figuring it out on my own again and really relishing when I get to talk with someone about how they're using it and what that looks like, not just which tools or what prompts but also how they're thinking about it and where it feels expansive versus limiting and, well, the human experience.

I had the chance to work with Natalie to support SolarApp Foundation's $4M grant proposal last fall – and as of August 2025, it looks like they're going to be successful! I feel so proud and honored that we got to help this relatively new organization and team make it happen. Watching her navigate AI in real-time during that wild 30-day sprint shifted how I think about all of this.

What I love about Natalie's story is how honest she is about not knowing everything. Like, she'll straight-up say "I saw a post that said 'AI is theft' and I was like, I actually don't know what you mean" – and then she'll dig into the complexity of it instead of freezing until she has the perfect answer. She's curious about the ethics AND she's using it to help nonprofits do incredible work AND she's building systems so other people can benefit too.

The reason I wanted to share her story is because AI is new and evolving and we're ALL figuring it out. At Helia, we're absolutely leveraging it AND we have so many questions about what it all means. I keep sitting with how we can be generous about sharing what we're learning while also bringing in more of the conversation about the layers and complexity. Natalie is someone we trust completely, and I feel like we're getting to learn this whole new world alongside her – mistakes and breakthroughs and ethical questions and all.

“Drafting grant proposals with one hand and holding the future in the other. This is what nonprofit work actually looks like sometimes.”

Natalie's Story

I never set out to become an "AI person" – in fact, I had zero interest in it for the longest time. I'd been doing fundraising for a while, working with a handful of nonprofits, but AI always felt like this very “out-there” thing. Honestly, it was something I just did not have the energy or interest to figure out. I  forget my iCloud password every time I log in–and I’ve drafted grant proposals while wrangling a toddler in my lap. AI just felt like one more thing I didn’t have time to learn. I thought, "That's for someone else. You let me know how and when it can be useful to me." And people did, but I’d still think, "I can’t even begin to think about trying something else new with all that I’m juggling. "

But then I had the opportunity to work with a client – Matthew McAllister at SolarAPP+ Foundation – who specifically asked me to use ChatGPT to help write a $4M grant in just 30 days. It was no small task pulling together dozens of pages of narrative, budgets, and attachments across multiple partners and time zones. They were a new and ambitious organization, still shaping their broader strategy for scale. That meant we were building the proposal in real time—making sure it aligned with their big vision and fit within the structure of a government grant while keeping momentum toward submission within a short timeframe.

Clean energy was also not my area of expertise—I grew up in an oil and gas state! This was a chance to see how AI might help make up for that steep learning curve. Could it reduce the research lift and cut down on the time their team spent reviewing drafts? Just as importantly, could it help them keep building their organizational voice? Matthew saw potential for ChatGPT to be a really useful tool in fundraising. We were curious: could this help make the workload lighter or would it get in the way? We acknowledged that we didn’t know yet – and gave it a try. The end result? We made the deadline, SolarAPP Foundation was recommended for the full funding, and ChatGPT cut the work load significantly. 

Things I’m Learning about Using AI 

ChatGPT has evolved dramatically since then–and my skill in using it is in a really different place, too. In just six months, there's been a big expansion of what it can help me do to support nonprofits. 

That said, AI still needs a human brain behind the wheel. One of my key takeaways has been how this shows up when using it in your day to day work. During the SolarAPP project, I asked ChatGPT to help describe the environmental impact of streamlining solar permitting. It gave me a stat that sounded impressive—until one team member gently pointed out that this number reflected roughly the equivalent of the impact of a single home, not a whole state. It was a humbling reminder to be grateful for partners who are willing to help me learn!

That was a great reminder that AI can sound right and still be wrong. Newer features—like ChatGPT’s Deep Research function—make a big difference (my favorite for researching funding prospects!). You can point it to real sources, like IRS 990s or organization websites, instead of letting it guess. The tool’s getting smarter, but it still needs you to ask, “Where did that come from?” or tell it “Use only verifiable sources.” 

A few weeks ago, I got to talk to a hyperlocal nonprofit about fundraising. They asked me, "What do you know about fundraising?" And it was kind of like, "Hold my beer." I got to share some of what I’m learning. It was especially fun because they are subscribed to a different AI tool, so we took the same prompts based on the Helia fundraising tools and put them into the different platforms to see how they’d respond. We found ChatGPT to be most effective for funder research, which was good news because I’m still not jumping to try more new tools unless I have a good reason! Helping a nonprofit board member think about how they might bring a longtime leader into a new fundraising approach or using AI tools to lessen their workload – that felt powerful. 

It was also fun beyond just getting to be helpful. They were planning a fish fry fundraiser where they use ticket sales as the primary fundraising tactic.  I encouraged them to think more about sponsorships—because they're a hyper local feeding program in their little town of ~10,000 people. I told them, "You need to be approaching every single business in your town about sponsorship." 

And then, we used ChatGPT to help us think about the “how.” I prompted it to brainstorm sponsorship levels/amounts and businesses to approach based on the size of the town and local economy, but also names for sponsorship levels. It gave us fish-based names – which was absolutely joyful. Big Kahuna, Deep Sea Donor, Tartar Sauce Sponsor, the Reel Deal, a Fry Buddy,… and one name that had us laughing and then deleting it real quick (turns out ChatGPT doesn’t always catch innuendos).

An excerpt from the sponsorship brainstorm spreadsheet  that we developed with ChatGPT. 

Maintaining Your Authentic Voice 

A turning point for me in working with AI was when I started to  work with our incredible partners at LA Más. Their messaging is so deeply aligned with who they are and how they actually work, which  is rare with any institution, but sometimes especially in the nonprofit world. A lot of people are concerned that AI won’t reflect their voice, their story, or their culture." With an organization like LA Más that is so deeply rooted in their community, it’s fair to ask: How could AI actually reflect their writing in a way that feels genuine?  

We found this beautiful balance: I put their previous writing from newsletters, proposals, and marketing materials into ChatGPT and prompted it to describe their tone and messaging. Then I tell ChatGPT, "Use this tone and messaging to write this next thing, whether that’s a social media blurb, grant report, or newsletter draft." It may sound cheesy, but it’s been a privilege to  think about how to be as authentic to a real community’s voice with care, while using a tool that can help their small nonprofit team expand their time and capacity.

A screenshot of how I asked ChatGPT to describe LA Más’ tone and messaging.

Just to be super clear: we're not asking you to change how you talk about your work! I know that's a common concern, that it's going to cause you to drift away from your core messaging. The reality is, you can direct it how you want it to act and work for you. If it’s not quite right the first time, I tell ChatGPT, “Verify that this draft aligns with my tone and messaging,”or even things like, “That phrasing feels too corporate or sales-y.”  and it will adjust. You’re still the one steering—AI is just a tool that can help you think it through and get it done faster.

Most importantly, I use AI to help real people—alongside organizations that are under-resourced, up against deadlines, and doing the hard work of supporting their communities. They’ve got a lot of heart, but very little margin. If I can spend less energy staring at a blank screen and more time helping them get the funding they need, that matters. AI isn’t perfect, but it helps me do work that really matters—and that makes it worth trying. 

What Changed Everything

Natalie's transformation from AI skeptic to strategic user happened through discovering approaches that preserved authenticity while dramatically improving efficiency.

What I keep sitting with from Natalie's story is this beautiful tension she holds: she's genuinely excited about what AI can do AND she's asking the hard questions about what it means. She'll say "I saw a post yesterday that said 'AI is theft' and I was thinking, ‘I actually don't know what you mean.’ And I couldn't dig into it right then. Maybe it was about graphics? I just didn't know."

That feels so honest to me! She's not pretending to have all the answers or dismissing concerns, but she's also not letting uncertainty paralyze her from doing work that's genuinely helping people. She’s learning in real time, staying grounded in her values, and building systems and templates so that what she's learning doesn't just stay with her. She's creating how-to guides on using deep research features for funder research, templates for creating a custom GPT for your organization, and sharing real examples from her work with LA Más to show actual results so other people don’t have to start from scratch.

Natalie’s tips for using AI to lighten your workload: 

  • Train a GPT to learn your organizational voice: "The hack that I've done is I put in their existing materials and ask ChatGPT to describe their tone and messaging. Then I’ll say back to ChatGPT, 'Use this tone and messaging to write this next thing.'" For organizations like LA Más, who are so deeply rooted in community, this meant AI could help expand their capacity without changing how they talk about their work and community.

  • Treat AI like a thought partner, not a replacement: "I can say things like, 'That sounds elitist' or 'That sounds cringy' and ask for a few other wording options. I'll say, 'Review again and give me a thorough, detailed response.' It actually helps shape the tone and depth of the replies, like training your own thought partner." It’s not about AI getting it right the first time—it’s about coaching it toward something that reflects your values.

  • Use AI for the stuff that drains you: "I can spend less time on repetitive writing and more time connecting with people." Whether that's summarizing emails when brain fog hits or translating newsletter content into social media posts, AI handles the mechanical parts so you can focus on relationships.

  • Create different personas for different audiences: "I create different personas with distinct tones–one voice for a local communications committee, another for volunteers, and another for professional communication. I even have one for writing out chore instructions for my kids!” 

  • The ethics piece is complex and important: “I’m learning, but I haven’t done a deep dive on that yet. I know people have strong feelings about it—and with good reason. I just don’t know yet.” She’s careful about what she puts into AI tools—avoiding personally identifiable information, thinking about where custom GPTs are accessible, and staying mindful of community context. But she’s also honest about what’s unresolved: questions about equity, environmental impacts, labor, and the tension between innovation and harm. Instead of rushing past those complexities, she’s actively listening to those speaking on the subject and moving thoughtfully. And she invites others to do the same.

“A loved one captured me in my element – day dreaming.” 

The Solar App project shows what's possible: "It was probably 100 pages of work. It still took me a lot of hours, but it probably cut the work down by 30 to 40%." More importantly, it built reusable systems and helped establish the organization's voice for future opportunities. It was a crash course in what AI can—and can’t—do, and a reminder that when used thoughtfully and alongside good partners, these tools can help us spend less time drafting and more time focused on what matters most.

Questions you might want to sit with

  • What repetitive tasks in your work are stealing time from the things that actually matter?

  • Where are you stuck in endless cycles of wordsmithing when you could be building relationships?

  • How might AI help you show up more fully for the people and communities you serve?

  • What values do you want to ensure are reflected in any AI tools you use?

  • If you could cut 30-40% off your writing time, what would you do with those extra hours?

  • What small, frustrating process could be your first experiment with AI?

  • How might you contribute your voice and perspective to make AI more inclusive and representative?

 

Want to Try This?

 

About the Contributor

Natalie is someone who has to change her iCloud password every time she tries to log in for 10 years (seriously!), loves Asana to the point that she would make you pay her to try another project management platform, and generally only adopts new technology only when required for client work or when someone demonstrates clear value. She's a social worker by training who believes the money of the world should and can belong to people doing good and meaningful work, finds fundraising genuinely fun, and has this incredible gift for turning complex ideas into clear, compelling language.

She's based in Colorado and from Oklahoma—and loves working with nonprofits that serve vulnerable populations.  Reach out at bergstrasserconsulting@gmail.com with the subject line “Helia Connect” to explore hands-on fundraising strategy support, custom GPT creation, or training and AI tailored to your nonprofit’s voice and values.

“Training up the next generation of big huggers.”

This article comes from a coffee chat with Natalie in June 2025. These conversations form the heart of the Helia Library – because I've learned the most from doing and from talking with other doers willing to share their wisdom. We don't need to start from blank pages or do everything alone.

As always, take what's helpful, leave what's not, and make it your own.

Love this article? Have a suggestion? We want to hear it all. Share feedback on this article here, and on The Helia Collective as a whole here.

Claire Bernson
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Nina’s People Manager Job Description